Shrimp Growers Urged to Strengthen R&D

PHILIPPINES - Delegates at the 6th Philippine Shrimp Congress have been urged to focus on intensified research and development to boost the countrys shrimp industry.

Senator Edgardo Angara told the conference in Bacolod City this would enable the industry to survive in a global economy where knowledge and innovation determines the future according to the Visayan Daily Star.

“Traditional farming methods no longer suffice. An export-oriented industry such as aquaculture requires more technology-intensive practices,” Angara said at the opening rites of the three-day congress at the Bacolod Pavillon Resort in Bacolod City.

The shrimp farming industry continues to grow worldwide, and the Philippines should work at tapping into more of its markers, Sen Angara, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Agricultural Modernization Oversight Committee, said.

The Philippines is currently 10th in world production, he noted.

Last year, the Philippine shrimp industry earned roughly $34 million, largely from its main markets Japan and Korea, the Daily Star reports. However, with today’s continuous increase in fuel prices and a stronger peso exchange rate, export earnings of the Philippine shrimp industry decreased as its cost of production grew, Sen Angara noted.